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Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

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Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#61

Post by 3vidence »

dyarosla wrote: post #57
ryandrake wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most companies I've worked, in order to actually implement an idea, you need to prove a few things, whether the person proposing it is the PM, an engineer, or any other person involved in the product: 1. The idea is technically feasible 2. The idea aligns with company's business goals 3. The idea is our team's responsibility and cannot be done by another team 4. The idea is more important than the other things our…

Also, but rarely: Some engineer wants it bad enough that they just build it -or some version of it- and then some executive gives the go-ahead to invest more into it. At the end of the day, ideas are just ideas. Execution is everything.

I've learned the value of this.

Some people don't realize the value of something unless you show it to them. It's a risk for sure but honestly it keeps me sane vs trying to get 10 people aligned before starting something and then running out of time.

People will happily take credit for your work after it works.

Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#63

Post by droopyEyelids »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #60
ryandrake wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most companies I've worked, in order to actually implement an idea, you need to prove a few things, whether the person proposing it is the PM, an engineer, or any other person involved in the product: 1. The idea is technically feasible 2. The idea aligns with company's business goals 3. The idea is our team's responsibility and cannot be done by another team 4. The idea is more important than the other things our…

> 3. The idea is our team's responsibility and cannot be done by another team Is it really true that your company cannot implement any idea that could potentially be done by more than one team?

If more than one team could reasonably be the owner of something, -and- the ownership isn't going to get a manager promoted, there needs to be a showdown to see what team takes the impact to their roadmap

Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#64

Post by droopyEyelids »

caminante wrote: post #42
JohnMakin wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On climate change, are we somewhere between step 3 and 4? It sure looks a lot that way to me. Maybe closer to 4 soon. That conversation is exhausting, or kind of the inverse of this, overwhelming confidence in the success of future technologies that do not really exist yet.

Re: climate change, what can the US and other actors do for "support" when China's still at Yes Minister step 1? China's the biggest emitter and doesn't care. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhous...

As an aside, there is a bit of a disconnect in how the west interpret's China as "not caring" whenever China doesn't make a lot of noise about publicly fixing something. The party can care, but decide something gets less priority, and put it in their backlog, the same way a project manager can!

Air quality and industrial pollutants are a good example. Right now, China is prioritizing industrial expansion and energy stability until they hit whatever targets they have in mind. They'll be talking about carbon and pollution publicly once they can shut down their coal plants without destabilizing the grid.

Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#67

Post by PapaPalpatine »

saulpw wrote: post #52
gatkinso wrote: post #14

How about a "no" to having product managers?

Great, so, what are you going to build? Whatever the engineers want to play with?

No. The engineers can talk to the customers and figure out what they want. Cut out the redundant middleman.

Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#68

Post by usehackernews »

dyarosla wrote: post #57
ryandrake wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most companies I've worked, in order to actually implement an idea, you need to prove a few things, whether the person proposing it is the PM, an engineer, or any other person involved in the product: 1. The idea is technically feasible 2. The idea aligns with company's business goals 3. The idea is our team's responsibility and cannot be done by another team 4. The idea is more important than the other things our…

Also, but rarely: Some engineer wants it bad enough that they just build it -or some version of it- and then some executive gives the go-ahead to invest more into it. At the end of the day, ideas are just ideas. Execution is everything.

As a PM, I factor this into prioritization. An engineer passionate for a product will lead to better engineering output, increased morale, and feeling of being heard. A motivated, bought-in engineer team is important when it comes to building the ‘high impact’ products.

Prioritization isn’t always black and white.

These qualitative factors matter and shouldn’t be ignored. As always, you weight it against other trade offs.

Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#69

Post by switch007 »

gopalv wrote: post #3

This sort of advice is parodied in "Yes, Prime Minister" as the 4 step strategy for "crisis management" 1: Don't worry, nothing's going to happen. 2: Something may be happen but we should wait and see 3: Maybe we should do something about it, but there is no clear action 4: Maybe there was something we could've done, but it's too late now Stringing along a bunch of people who think they are being heard and listened t…

Modern twist

1. No such crisis exists

2. Why would you believe such a thing?

3. It's too early to draw any conclusions before the full investigation

4. Look over there, a new scandal

Re: Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

#70

Post by brigandish »

PapaPalpatine wrote: post #67
saulpw wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great, so, what are you going to build? Whatever the engineers want to play with?

No. The engineers can talk to the customers and figure out what they want. Cut out the redundant middleman.

Which engineer talks to the customer? That person shall henceforth be called the Product Manager.
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